FEARS OF MEASLES EPIDEMIC IN SAADA: HEALTH MINISTRY

SANAA, May 02 (Saba) - Yemen's Health Ministry has warned of Measles epidemic in Saada province, voicing fears of appearing death cases due to the Measles complications.

A report on the current situation in the province issued by the ministry said that the discovered confirmed cases have reached 157 since the beginning of 2010, including 27 cases discovered among the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in both Amran and Hajjah provinces and 113 cases in Sa'ada people. The other cases discovered in other provinces.

The independent website Newsyemen said on Saturday according to the report that all the vaccination activities have been suspended due to the war in the province, indicating that the children there are very susceptible to infectious diseases including measles.

The Health Ministry plans to secure the suitable situation to give the vaccine against the Measles for IDPs under 15 years old in collaboration with local authorities in the neighboring provinces.

Measles cases came down in 2008 to eight cases and death cases have been registered since 2007, the report showed.

Measles was the fourth causes of death among young children in Yemen. The country was about to announce uprooting of the disease in 2010 but the campaign stopped because of the war.

AF/AF